Trying the Salem Witches and Wizards…
by hpgirl500
Summary: Add one Marauder, two redheads, and the Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Die. Mix in Salem Witch Trials and serve liberally with chaos.
1. Prologue: The Beginning

Prologue…Trying the Salem Witches (and Wizards)…

Disclaimer… I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters; they belong to J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers

"Professor Binns has asked me to speak to you today because he is under the impression that you will ignore him as he give the instructions to this important project."

The entire class sat in rapt attention as Professor McGonagall talked.

"Due to the, er, _complications_ that we had some twenty years ago, this project has not been attempted for quite some time."

Dean Thomas raised his hand.  "Excuse me, Professor, but what were those complications?"

"Er, one of the over zealous students, in an attempt to prove to his partner that he was capable of work, went back to gain a, um, first-hand account."

Lavender Brown raised her hand.  "Did it work?"  
Professor McGonagall looked nervous for a moment and then said, rather quickly, "Pf course not. No.  Now, this will count as most of your History of Magic grade for this term.  You are to write a ten-foot long essay, with a partner, about your topic.  The fifth years will be doing this as well, and, due to the lack of sufficient students and inter-year mingling required by the Headmaster, some of you will have to be paired with them.  The pairings are as follows: Finnegan and Patil, on goblin rebellions."

Parvati groaned as Seamus grinned, and then slowly frowned as he realized what his topic was.

"Brown and Thomas, medieval witch burning."

"Granger and Weasley, the life of Merlin."

"Creevey and Longbottom, the Wizenmagot."

"Potter and Weasley (A/N: This means Ginny, and the rest of the class understands, too), the Salem Witch Trials."

Professor McGonagall droned on as the other reflected their varying degrees of luck.  "The essay is due the Friday before Christmas holiday.  Have at it."

*~*~*

*in Dumbledore's office*

"Minerva, by any chance did Binns assign the Salem Witch Trials to a group?"

"Of course he did."

"To whom?"

"Potter and the Weasley girl.  Why?"

"Oh, I'm just reading a little book about it, is all."

As Professor McGonagall left, Albus Dumbledore re-read the passage again:

One of the least commonly known trials is one of fours teens, two male (similar appearances and two female (again, similar appearances).  Not much is known about these nameless teens, although the most memorable fact of the trial is that as being led out, one of the boys yelled out, much to the other's dismay, "It's wizard, you bloody idiot!  I'm not a sopping girl!"

Four of them?  Dumbledore thought.  Oh shoot.

A/N:  I just came us with this in about twenty minutes, I have a whole plot worked out and I do not need suggestions.  Brianna, sorry you didn't see this first, but I had to post it.


	2. Chapter 1: Just Say This Spell

Chapter 1:

Disclaimer… I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters; they belong to J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers

"Now you all have your assignments.  Have at it."

"Yes! I got Moony!  I'm gonna get a perfect grade!" Sirius yelled happily.

"Maybe, but first you have five feet of research to do," Remus replied with a slight smile.

"No, Moony!  I'm your best friend!  You can't do this to me!  I'm practically allergic to books!"  Sirius cried desperately. 

"Wonderful! I got Evans." James sighed happily.

"Oh no, not again Prongs!  Duck and run for cover!" Sirius shrieked, causing a few of the girls to actually duck.  

"Don't worry, fellow Marauder, I shall save you! _Silencio!_" Remus cried out, earning a round of applause from Sirius.  James's mouth kept moving, unaware that nothing was coming  out.

*other side of the room*

"Oh man, I'm stuck with Potter," Lily groaned.  "Better go arrange a time to meet him in the Library so I don't have to do it all myself.  Lily shuffled over to where the Marauders were sitting.  "Potter, when should we meet in the Library to work on the project?"

James tried to say something, and finally realized that he wasn't able to hear himself.  Lily ignored him anyways and said, "I'll do some preliminary research and then we can get started.  How about we meet in the Library on, oh, say, Saturday at, maybe, ten?"  She gave James a piercing stare.

James mouthed something along the line of "But that's a Hogsmeade weekend!"  Lily did not seem to 'get' the message, so he finally gave in and nodded. 

"Good.  Se you Saturday."  She turned as if to walk away, but then turned back with a slight smile on her face.  "Potter, you realize that this is pretty darn close to a date, so don't you dare skive off or next time you ask you'll end up with worse than a 'no.'"

Before waiting for a reply from him, she left.  James slowly grinned as he realized his luck.  Wait till he told Peter about this.  (A/N: Peter has had a near death experience after choking on frog legs.  Don't ask me why; I just hate him.  He is now recovering in the Hospital Wing after the six excruciatingly painful surgeries they did on him to get out other objects that he has ingested over time.)

*~*~*

"Alright Ginny, here's the plan. We sneak into the Library, 'borrow' all of the books about the Salem Witch Trials, do the paper, and return them one by one in the dead of night." Harry was outlining his research plan in a conspiratorial whisper to Ginny.

"Or we can just check them out and not run the risk of getting caught?"

"That's so crazy it just might work."  They both laughed.

"Good job, Sherlock." 

"Let's go, Watson."

Laughing, Harry and Ginny headed off to the Library.  On the way they ran into a frantic Hermione and a confused Ron.  Hermione seemed to be under the impression that the essay was due the next day.  

They found several old, heavy volumes and opened the largest.  Inside it was a handwritten note, written by two different people.

"The only reason anyone would use this stupid- _it's not stupid_- yes it is, book is in case of a boring- _ahem-_ History of Magic project.  _How can you say that?_ Cause it's true.  Anyways, the use the spell below and you'll go back in time to the actual Salem Witch trials.  _We did; we passed_.  If my memory serves me right- _it probably doesn't_- oh, shut it, we'll be behind one of the trees under and Invis- _do you want to get in more trouble?_- er, just give a little whistle and we'll appear.  Good enough for you? _Yes._ If you have anything like an Invisibility Cloak please bring it, mine's a bit torn.  _I'll kill you!_  No you won't.  We know who'll come- _not at the time we won't, it won't have happened yet-_ oh, never mind.  Just show up and we can work together."

Harry and Ginny turned to each other.  "Wanna try it?" Ginny asked.

"Sure."

*~*~*

"Evans, hey EVANS!"

"What Potter?"  Lily placed her hands on her hips and she surveyed James, who had appeared to have run up several flights of stairs.

"I found a way- loads easier- bound to get top mark-"

"Well, spit it out."

"We can go back in time to get a hands on view.  It's better than a month's worth of research.  Heck, we could do the whole project and be back in time to Hogsmeade!"

"And you propose this- how?" 

"Look, we just say this spell-"

*~*~*

"Oof."  Ginny landed on her rump in a snowy patch.  "I guess it worked?"

"Hey someone else came too!" a strange girl's voice called out.  It was slightly familiar to Harry.

Harry called out, "Do you have an Invisibility Cloak? I brought mine."

Another voice, this one male and again, very familiar, said, "Good, Mum still hasn't patched mine up properly."

There was a rustle, and suddenly it seemed as if a huge mirror had been placed in the middle of the clearing.

A/N: It'll probably be a few days until I post again, I have to go to the library myself and get a book about this stuff.  I've read it twice, and it's called _A Break With Charity_ by Ann Rinaldi.  Hope you liked this chapter.  To those who reviewed: thanks.  And Bri, get online!


	3. Chapter 2: And You Are?

Chapter 2:

Disclaimer… I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters; they belong to J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers

Lily took charge as the two strangers and James gaped at each other.  "Are you from before of after 1975 (A/N: this is an approximation based on what I've read elsewhere)?"

The boy stammered, "After."

"Then we'll go by first names only.  I'm Lily, this is James.  And you are?"  
The boy looked as if he had been hit with a ton of bricks.  The girl, who also looked a bit surprised, said, "I'm Ginny and this is Harry.  By the way, we know your last names, do that doesn't matter.  What year are you in?  I'm in fifth, and Harry's in sixth."

This time James answered.  "We're both in sixth.  Hey, why's a fifth year in on the project?"

"To make a long story that we know little about short, stopped one stopped it, and to get a wider base on if it'll work again, Binns is giving it to fifth and sixth years," Ginny replied.

Seemingly ignoring the previous information, James dropped his jaw and said, "Binns is still teaching?  But I thought he was like, a hundred years old or something!"

Harry apparently had regained his voice.  "Yeah, he did die, but he is now the only ghost teacher."

Lily thought that enough time had been wasted, so she abruptly changed the subject and asked, "Did any of you do any preliminary research, or was it just me?"  
 "I owled my mum for a book I got a few years ago and read it again," Ginny said, looking rather sheepish.

"If you did, why do you look so nervous?" 

"Well, it's a Muggle book.  Actually a Muggle historical fiction kind of lovey-dovey novel."

"Oh.  Harry, did you do any?"

Harry responded with an, "Umm, no?"

Lily gave a longsuffering sigh and said, "James, as much as I hate to ask, did you?"

"What is preliminary research?  I've always wondered." 

Suddenly, the four teens heard a noise drifting into their part of the woods.  A group of about five girls, of varying ages, walked towards a house that Lily and Ginny assumed to be the Reverend Parris's house, and the boys assumed to be God knows what.

"Well, now that we know that the meetings have started, we should discuss a game plan," Ginny offered up.

"Here's what I was thinking.  We really only ought to talk to the minimum amount of people necessary to do the project., that way we won't change anything,"  James said.

"Good thinking.  The only thing is , when do we know that we need to go back?  There has to be some point where we go back to our own time," Harry said.

"Why don't we just wait until we have enough to fill ten feet of parchment each?"  James asked.  "Ooh, I know, we could get a twenty foot paper, then we'll put in the first ten feet, then write 'to be continued…" and then on the top of yours you can write 'a continuation'?" 

Harry and Ginny laughed and agreed, but Lily looked thoughtful for a moment.  "Well, we do need a prank to leave Binns with for all that he's done to us- yeah, I suppose we could."

"So that's settled then.  I suppose we should wait until those girls come out of what ever they're doing, and then we can corner, er, _observe_, them for a bit for some information," Harry said.

Just then, a voice from somewhere behind then said, "I'll wager you are new in these parts, eh?"

Startled, Lilly called out, "Who's there?"  
An untidy old woman stood before them.  "It's just old Sarah Bibber.  If you folks are new here, here's a word of warning.  Strange things'll be coming about soon.  Going around as you are, I wouldn't be surprised if you get dragged into them.  Do you know what those girls are doing in there?  Tituba's telling fortunes and reading tea leaves and messing with the Devil's business." 

"Bet you she isn't doing it right," Harry muttered to James, who stifled a laugh.

Thinking they were laughing at what she had said, Goody Bibber said, in a conspiratorial whisper, "Those girls are messing around with things that their Puritan daddies wouldn't approve of.  They'll probably do some mighty fine dissembling to get out of it if they get caught.  Those who stick out will probably get into a good amount of trouble.  You four best be watching out for yourselves."  And with that, she was off, leaving the teens to wonder if she had ever really been there at all.

After a few moment of silence, Lily spoke up.  "Well, that old nut was right about one thing.  We would stick out like a sore thumb.  James, if you don't mind…"

"Oh, right."  James waved his wand, muttering a complicated sounding spell under his breath, and instantly their clothes were changed to that of a Puritan in 1692.  Upon realizing how stiff and uncomfortable their shirts were, Harry and James immediately protested.

Ginny waved off their complaints with a wave of her hand.  "Stuff it, you two, we don't have time for you two to be complaining about how awful your shirts are.  In case you haven't noticed, these skirts have ample amounts of complicated stuff underneath them.  So unless you'd like to help with them later…"

"No, don't say that!  James will say yes and…" Lily broke off with a shudder as James grinned and Harry grimaced.

They four stopped arguing as they heard a group of girls heading in their direction.  James hissed, "Do we hide or let them see us?" 

"Too late,"  Ginny moaned as the girls stopped their already subdued chatter.  The girls gave Lily and Ginny disdainful looks, while inspecting the guys further.  

"And who do we have here?" the girl who seemed to be the leader asked.  Even though she was obviously not the oldest, she gave off an attitude that said "Don't mess with me."

"Don't worry you silly little heads about them, they're not looking into girls right now," Lily said in a rather huffy voice.

The girl ignored her and said, addressing the boys, "I'm Ann Putnam.  And who might you charming gentlemen be?"

Lily cut off whatever James was about to answer and said, "Much too old for you.  I suggest you leave us alone."

Ann's face turned cloudy.  "Look, missy, things are happening, and if you don't shape up your attitude, they'll be happening to you."  Turning to the boys she said, "Well, welcome to Salem, if you need anything I'd be happy to help you boys."  She stalked off, the other girls following meekly behind.

As she left, she whispered to one of the other girls, "What a witch."

James yelled at their retreating backs, "That's wizard to you ninnies!"

One of them turned back and gave him and odd look, and Lily smacked him upside his head.  "Don't blow our cover!"

Trying to break up the imminent fight, Ginny said, "We ought to go talk to that Tituba woman.  She might be able to tell us something.  And James, Lily is right, we can't have you going and blowing our cover.  Harry, you be careful, too.  Let's go."  
  


A/N: Alright, now how was that?  This took me about an hour to do, but it turned out about half a page longer than I expected.  I'll do my best to whip out the next chapter as soon as I can.  By the way, for those of you who are clueless, we do not like Ann Putnam.  Tituba is alright, I suppose, but she is used by Ann.  Tituba is the Reverend Parris's slave, and he does not know about what the girls are doing in his house.


	4. Chapter 3: In the Parsonage

Chapter 3:

Disclaimer… I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters; they belong to J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers

The four teens walked towards the Reverend Parris's house.  Meeting his manservant, John Indian, Harry asked, "Sir, may we come in?  We would like to see, er,"

Ginny gave him a sharp poke and hissed, "Tituba."

"Right," Harry said. "Tituba."

John Indian gave them a curious look, but upon looking at the shivering teens, unused to the cold, smiled, and said, "Come on in.  You want to see Tituba?  She's just in there.  You don't seem to be from around these parts.  New here?"  
They all looked to Lily, who stammered, "Yes, we, er, just came over from England."

"Will you be staying for long?" he asked.

The four seemed to have a silent conference with their eyes.  After what seemed like an eternity, James whispered, "Lily how long did you say this was?"  
She whispered in an accusing tone, "Over by about July, I'd say."

James straightened and then to John said, "No longer than July."  Both he and Harry seemed slightly surprised at this, while Lily, determined, and Ginny, confused.

"Well, I daresay I've kept you long enough.  I must assume that you've heard from some of the girls in town that Tituba tells fortunes.  Is that your reason for coming?"  
Lily immediately answered, "Yes," and Harry and James looked slightly put out.  

After giving then another confused look, John let them in and called, "Tituba, there are some young people her to see you!"

"Send them in."

*~*~*

Tituba gave to four teens a warm smile.  "Hello.  And you are?"  
Ginny answered for them with, "This is Harry, James, and Lily, and I'm Ginny."

Tituba looked at Harry for a moment, then at Lily.  "What lovely green eyes.  Are you two related?"  
Neither answered the question, and Lily looked mildly confused, and Harry looked sad.

"Never mind that now.  I am assuming you want your fortunes told.  Who wants to go first?"

Harry immediately volunteered, and whispered to Ginny something along the lines of "see if she's any better than the old bat."  HE stuck out his palm, and Tituba gently traced her finger along it.  

"You poor thing.  Your life line looks very short.  I would not say that you have not much longer to live."  
At this Harry starting cracking up, and had to be excused to calm himself down.  When he returned, Tituba turned to Ginny and traced her palm.  "Ah dear, it seems you have a great dislike of snakes.  And you will marry someone of tremendous power."  

Ginny nodded at the snakes, but at who she would marry, she turned to Harry and slowly said, "That leaves what, two people.  And it can't be one, so…" she trailed off, looking a bit sheepish.

Harry grinned and said, "I think Dumbledore's a bit too old for you."   She whacked him and said "I'll tell you later."

Tituba grabbed Lily's hand.  "My dear, you are in love!"  At this, both Lily and James looked shocked.  "With whom?" they said at the same time.

"I can't be in love!" Lily squeaked.  

"I'm the one in love!" James yelled.  Tituba looked confused, and Harry and Ginny were laughing their heads off.  Once again, Harry had to be excused to get a grip on himself.  Seeing the utter confusion on Tituba's face, Lily hastily said, "We'd better get going.  Thank you so very much for your time."

As they were leaving, they ran into the Reverend Parris, who was just getting home.

The man dressed in black did not attempt to mask his surprise at seeing four strangers emerge from his house.  With raised eyebrows he said, "I'm Reverend Parris.  And you are?"  
This time James answered for the group.

The Reverend asked, "And where do you folk live?"

Lily quickly said, "We're just, we, uh, we just  got back from Boston.  My dear James has some business to take care of here, and we were hoping to move to the village.  We don't know anyone here, but since you are the Reverend of this lovely town, we wanted to come see you, seeing as you would probably know if anyone in these parts was trying to get a small parcel of land off of their hands."

With eyebrows still cocked, the Reverend said, "Then why are you leaving if you came to see me?"

"Your man servant said you weren't here, so we waited for a bit, hoping you would come back.  We were just about to go, but since you're here, if you're not to busy, would you mind helping us?  It shouldn't take too long."

The Reverend believed their feeble excuse, and said with the smallest hint of a smile that was nearly invisible, "It's no trouble at all.  Just give me a few minutes to get out of my traveling cloak, and I'll be right with you.  Just sit here in the parlor for a little bit, please."

The four easily obliged, and after Reverend Parris left the room, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was too close.

A/N: To all of my readers, here is the third chapter.  I'm sorry it took me forever, but with school and everything, it was just a bit much.  IF for some reason I have an incredible burst of strength, I'll put the next chapter up today, but more likely it'll be by Friday.  I will write a lot over Christmas, but I won't have a constant computer, so it might be, at most a week after Christmas before the next few chapters are up.  And as much as I hate to be asking this, a few suggestions might not hurt my progress a little bit, though I can't guarantee that they'll be used.


	5. Chapter 4: We'll Take It

Chapter 4:

Disclaimer… I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters; they belong to J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers

Once the Reverend had left, Harry asked Lily, "You said we were interested in buying land.  You're forgetting that we have no money."

As Lily paled a bit, Ginny answered, "Don't worry.  While Harry got his cloak, I found a spell so we can transfigure some stuff into money for this time."

Lily asked, "Isn't that counterfeiting?"

Ginny ignored her and held out the spell.  "I wasn't any good at it, but my mum got me this weird bead set over the break, so I brought some to transfigure.  Either of you want to give it a go?"  
James took them and successfully transfigured them into several dozen one-pound notes (A/N: In case you forgot, 300 years ago this is a good amount of money.), which he divvied up four ways and passed around.

Just then, the Reverend Parris came in.  "I hope you've made yourselves warm."  The four nodded.  "Good.  Onto business.  I know a man not half a mile from here who's looking to sell a bit of land.  It's only an acre, and it's a bit back into the woods, but it's the closest place for sale.  Will that do?"  
Another silent conference went on, and James answered, "Yes, that will do.  Whom should we contact?"

"The man is actually coming here this evening about some other business.  He should be here after supper.  Would you care to stay?"

Ginny smiled. "That would be simply lovely, Reverend.  I trust it's not too much trouble?"  
"Of course not.  Actually, it should be ready soon, so I'll have Tituba set a few extra places."

At dinner, the Reverend talked a bit about the history of the town.  Eventually getting bored and changing the subject, he asked, "Do you attend Meeting?"

Knowing the only possible answer to stay on his good side (assuming he had one), Lily answered sweetly.  "Of course.  Every Sunday."

"And forgive me if I seem prying, but may I inquire as to how old you are?"  
James, Lily, and I are sixteen, and Ginny is fifteen," Harry answered.  

"Isn't that a bit, er, _young_ for such young people to live alone unmarried?"  
Ginny quickly made up a lie, giving a small giggle at the irony of her next statement.  "Oh, silly us, just before leaving England Harry and I were married.  Only a few months before, James and Lily were married as well.  It's been such a short time, all of us are always forgetting.  Isn't that right?"  Not wanting to be caught in a lie, the others nodded.

"Do you have the papers?"  
James answered this time when the others turned to him.  He pretended to search his stiff, awkward jacket and then smacked his forehead.  "I must have left them in my other jacket."  Yet again, the Reverend fell for it.  Obviously this had not been used enough times to become unbelievable.  

After a short lull as everyone finished supper, a knock was heard at the door, and a moment later John Indian came in and announced that Mr. Smith had arrived.

Mr. Smith came in and sat down.  After a tedious introduction (Mr. Smith is slightly deaf), Reverend Parris said, "Mr. Smith, these kind folk are interested in buying your patch of land out in the woods."

"Eh, is that so, eh?  You can have it for £10."

James whipped out his money and said, "You've got a deal."

"Eh?"

"We'll take it I said!" James practically yelled.

"I heard, I was just…testing you.  Are you sure you don't want to look at it first?" 

"I'm sure that it will be fine."  James handed over the money as Mr. Smith handed over the deed.  "Thank you for your business. It was a pleasure meeting you.  You too, Reverend Parris.  I hate that we have to leave like this, but we'll be seeing you around, I'm sure.  Now, Mr. Smith, where exactly is this little patch of land?"

"Follow the road about half a mile east.  It's the little fenced in area with the sign that says 'Smith.'"

"Thank you.  Good evening, gentlemen."

The four teens left, and headed towards their little patch of land.  When they got there, they stood in silence for a minute, and then Ginny voiced what they all had been thinking.  Incredulously, she said, "_This_ is it?"

A/N:  How was this for a fourth chapter?  It took me forever to get off of my lazy butt and type this stupid thing, the next few I did type over my dad's laptop over Christmas, so they will be up within a few days.  School is boring, not like anyone cares, so I should have time after it to get the ninth chapter written.  It's taking much longer than expected, so sorry to the handful of people who have waited for this, assuming anyone other than Bri remembers me.  I'll put the fifth one up now, too.  Bye for now.


	6. Chapter 5: Meeting Of Two Kinds

Chapter 5:

Disclaimer… I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters; they belong to J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers

Ginny repeated her statement.  "This is it?  We paid ten pounds for a rubbish dump?"  
James said, "I don't think it's a rubbish dump. I think it's a dead rubbish dump."

"It only looks likes a rubbish dump because it's slushy and overgrown," Lily pointed out sensibly.

They stared at it for a bit, and then James and Harry took out their wands.

"NO!" Lily hissed.  "Don't you think that these Puritan Muggles will find it a bit odd that a house pops up out of nowhere?"

"Oh come on, Lily, you could charm it so that it would look unfinished.  Please?"

She sighed. "All right.  Just don't expect me to make the stupid house.  That's your job James Potter."  As she said this, she was accusingly pointing at James and looking exactly like Mrs. Weasley.

Harry looked on with interest.  He finally got to see for himself what his parents were like alone.  "Are you two always like this?" he asked.

"There are a few times when Lily has been cordial to me, but overall, I have to say yes.  Although I must admit, she was a good actress back there."

"Ah."  
Everyone got to work setting the house up.  James was really good with the transfiguration.  Lily's charm worked without a hitch, and soon the four were able to relax in their luxurious home.  Although it was the essence of modern in Lily and James' eyes, it was a bit out of date to Harry and Ginny.

Something that Lily and Ginny worked on together was a library.  They were conjuring up books and giving each other advice about what novels to read.  Harry and James couldn't be bothered by their girly nonsense, so they shared tales of their adventures, each slightly exaggerated, ending when James could not top Harry's story of his brilliant defeat of the dragon in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament as an underage champion.

When Sunday came about, all four dressed their smartest and went to Meeting.  The Reverend was preaching a sermon about how they must resist being demonic or something of the sort, and it was all Lily could do to keep Harry and James awake in the cold, boring room.

After Meeting, they met most of the inhabitants of the town, with Lily and Ginny quietly pointing out who did what.  They introduction they were most looking forward to, and also most dreading, was of Ann Putnam and her mother.  In Meeting, their eyes clearly showed that they were not paying attention, and now the younger Ann's eyes were glittering with malice.  She flirtatiously smiled at James and Harry, who each in turn wrapped his arms protectively about his 'wife.'

"Why, hello.  Last time we bumped into each other I don't think we were properly introduced.  I'm Ann Putnam."

"I'm James Potter, and this is my wife, Lily."  James put special emphasis on 'my wife' as the casual how-do-you's went on.  

"I'm Harry Potter, and this is my wife, Ginny."  A flicker of emotion went on in James' face, and Harry felt like whacking himself. _Oh no, now James at least will put two and two together and never leave me alone until he finds out, _he thought.

Ann's smile went down a few notches at this new information, but now she was making new plans.  "How long do you plan on staying in our little town?"

"Oh, we'll be out be summer," Ginny answered.  

"Is our town very different from where you came from?"

"Loads, back home we went to school in a humongous castle with- oh," James stopped as Lily jabbed him in the ribs.  "We out to be going now.  Bye."

They met a few more people, and then headed back to their house.

"Hey, Harry, why'd you say your name was Potter?  Is it really?"  James pried.

Harry's answer was too vague for James' liking.  "To make people think we're brothers.  We look like it."

Everyone was quiet the rest of the way home.  They had a peaceful evening, and then quietly went to bed, trying to get to sleep as fast as they could.  Although Harry was in the next room over, James would have sworn that he heard Harry tossing and turning and murmuring "No, Sirius, come back!" which did not help him sleep any easier, since it was probably the same Sirius that he knew.

A/N:  Merry Christmas all! This was written on the plane and typed on my dad's laptop in my grandparents' den, so pardon any mistakes.  This laptop is so stinking STUPID!!!  It also has no floppy drive, so even though Chapter 4 will most definitely be posted before long, just letting you know that this was typed first.  ARGH!!  There is nothing to do in a ski town if you do not ski!!  My next note will be nicer though.


	7. Chapter 6: Back to the Present

Chapter 6: 

1975

"Professor McGonagall, have you seen Mr. Potter today?"

"No, sir."

"And Miss Evans?"

"Neither have been in their classes today."

"Well, where could they have gone?"  
As if to answer his question, young Sirius Black burst into the room.  "Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, James is gone."

"Where?"

"Back."

"Back?"

"I don't know, he just left a note saying he was going 'back' to do his project."

"Mr. Black, please go get me Professor Binns."

About ten minutes later, Black and Binns returned.  

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"What topic was Mr. Potter and Miss Evans assigned to?"

"The Salem Witch Trials."

"_That_ must be back."

*~*~*

1996

"Professor McGonagall, have you seen Mr. Potter today?"

"I thought we ended this conversation."

"As I thought.  And Miss Weasley?"

"What a case of déjà vu."

"Go get Binns.  Tell him to bring all previous papers about the Salem Witch Trials."

When Binns came, he said, "Professor, why do you need these papers?  Surely your books are more informative?"

"May I have Miss Evans and Mr. Potter's?"  
Although Binns never got a name right, he had superb organizational skills.  "The year, Headmaster?"

"1975."

"Here it is.  It was one of the more creative works.  They did it in first person, and they did a wonderful job on the first half.  I had to take off points because it was only the first half though."

"Did you see the last line?"

"Pardon?"

"The one that says, 'To be continued'?"

A/N:  I know that this chapter is really short, but I don't want it to be any longer.  Hope you enjoyed it.  By the way, this was only one and a half pages in my notebook, and the other chapters are all about three pages.  That is my average goal per chapter, so for the one person who asked me to make this longer, two page typed is as long as it gets.


	8. Chapter 7: A Peek Into Lives

Chapter 7:

The four had come near the end of February, so they really had about a week before the first arrest to observe the people of the town.  The girls in the aforementioned circle had come together and begun having their fits to avoid suspicion.  (A/N: More in next chapter about this.)

On the coldest day of that week, Harry and Ginny were sitting by the fire, talking.  Actually, it was more like a therapy   session for Harry, that slowly turned into a shouting session.

"You don't understand, Ginny!  You still have you family and a future!" 

"Well, keep this up and you won't!"

"It's a fifty-fifty chance!"

"Then look on the bright side!"

"You didn't hear the stupid Prophecy!"

"And you did?"  Ginny stopped abruptly at the look on Harry's face.  "Oh my gosh, you did.  I am so sorry.  I had no idea.  Why didn't you tell someone, anyone?"  Silence.  Ginny broke down crying.  "I knew there had to be something other than Sirius.  Everyone could tell.  We didn't want to ask you-"

"Let me put it this way.  There are three people that know the contents of the Prophecy.  One is not generally trusted and currently out of a job.  The other blames himself for everything, and the other is me.  I will do my best to keep it that way."

Ginny gave Harry a huge hug, and they stayed that way for several minutes.  _Then again, four people knowing might not be so bad._

*~*~*

"Lily, why do you think that that fortune-teller woman said you were in love?"

"I don't know," she answered gruffly.

"Who do you think it could be?"

"I don't KNOW, Potter!  Besides, Harry and Ginny didn't seem to believe her about them, or at least not Harry.  He obviously knows something about Divination that we don't.  I trust him more."

"But you've known me for six years."

"A) It was not versus you, and B) if by chance it was you I was talking about, he has not pulled pranks on me and annoyed me for six of those years."

"Oh, I'm hurt, Lily."

"I'm sorry, Potter."

"Ooh, is the great Lily Evans stooping to apologies?" 

"No, but I am stooping to-" there was a pause as she scooped a snowball, "throw a snowball at you."  There was a split-second pause as after the initial splat, then the woods were filled with shrieking and laughter as they engaged in an all-out snowball fight.

This went on for about ten minutes before they collapsed onto the snow.  

"Why don't you do fun stuff like this more often, Lily?"

"And who says that I don't?"

"If you really did, you would laugh like this more, smile your pretty smile more, and not be nearly as tense and uptight all the time."

"Do you really think so, James?"  
"Did mine ears deceive me or did you just call me by my birth name?  I wasn't sure you knew what it was."

"Come on.  We ought to get back.  I wonder how Harry and Ginny are.  When we left they were getting rather cozy."  She ran off, leaving James behind.  _That was too close.  I need to rid myself of any feelings for that kid._

James waited for about a minute in shock.  Had Lily actually been nice to him?

When they got back to the house, they saw that both Harry and Ginny's eyes were red from crying.  "Are you two okay?"  Lily asked sympathetically.  "Do you need anything?"

"No, we're fine.  Just some stuff going on back home.  Harry?"

"Yeah, since you seem to have to."

"Well, Harry just lost his godfather last summer.  He had already lost his parents as a baby and been living with his abusive aunt and uncle.  Now his main life line to his parents has been cut, with the exception of one school friend who was previously one of our teachers, therefore mildly intimidating to talk to, and the Potions teacher that his father continually hexed in school will put more emphasis on his father's arrogance.  And, if he dies, there is pretty much no hope for the world, Muggles most likely included."

"Tough life, kid.  I know we can't get specifics, but if you need help, me and Lily would love to," James said.

Lily was touched by the compassion on James's face.  "Maybe if you're this sweet all the time, James, people might tend to like you better."

"Meaning you?"

"Possibly."

Harry and Ginny shared a smile, knowing that the answer really should be "Yes."

A/N: Oh my gosh, I am such a bum.  Sorry for being lazy and not updating, but I have been preoccupied and have writer's block, so sorry.


End file.
